


We All Scream For Cryogenics

by Hawkscape



Series: Redtail Tales [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Feeding, Gen, Gender-Neutral Courier, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Ice Cream, Needles, Original Character(s), Redtail the Courier, Sarcasm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5419820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkscape/pseuds/Hawkscape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on there way to find Mister House's secret bunker, the courier's crew stumble upon a slightly different kind of bunker. One filled with frozen treats and more then a few mysteries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We All Scream For Cryogenics

Redtail came across the bunker just as night was settling in. They were thinking about setting up camp soon but seeing the small irregularity on the otherwise barren landscape made them press on. They had been pushing their companions rather hard lately as they were finally going to get some answers about the mysteries Mister House and the poker chip they had been shot for. They were on their way to where information pointed to the said millionaires secret hideout to try and unravel the apparent data contained on the innocent looking play piece.  


The courier was fiddling with said piece in there pocket when the lump came over the horizon. They stopped and squinted before Veronica asked the question they were thinking.  


“Wha’zat?” She lifted one of her hands covered in deadly equipment to her brow. This was useless since it was night and there was no glare to block out. Force of habit, Redtail guessed.  


Boone was the next to stop as he raised his scope to his eye. “Looks like a bunker.”  


Cass looked through her scope next. “Hey Red, is that thing what we're looking for? Mister House’s dungeon?”  


Gannon swiped at the data pad he was carrying that held a map similar to Red's pip-boy. He shook his head before speaking. “No, what we're looking for is still a good day's walk away. That thing isn't on the map. Didn’t you say something about being a ‘master cartographer’ Redtail?”  


The courier in question finally spoke up while beginning to move towards the object again. “I don’t know if I would use those words…”  


Raul came up behind them and patted Redtail's shoulder. “Yeah Doc, I think there exact words were ‘I’ve mapped everything in the wasteland worth mapping”.  


Red shrugged off their hand and their heckling. “I was drunk.” They quickened there pace slightly as they could now make out a door in the side of the mound.  


Cass snickered and bumped shoulder with the red faced prospector lightly. “When are you not drunk, Red?” Their snickering resolved into a full cackle as they glowered at her beneath the brim of their hat.  


“Oh you're one to talk ‘Whiskey Rose’. You're a walking moonshine still.” Instead of discouraging them this seemed to make their cackle intensify.  


Redtail knew it was all in fun, but they were a little sore about it anyway. Luckily, the bespectacled doctor came to their rescue. “Alcohol addiction is a hard thing to fight. Red's made good progress.” The courier in question was about to thank them, but they continue on. “Their addiction to stimpaks is another matter though.”  


Red held there arms in front of them in defense. “Okay number one, I'm not addicted to them, I just use them a lot. Number two, I wouldn't have to use them so much if you weren't such a lousy shot.”  


Gannon finally looked up from his data pad while putting a hand to his chest. “Hey, I’m just being honest. Sorry I’m not as good as your ‘mysterious stranger’.” He put on a few extra air quotes for emphasis before looking back to his pad in resignation. “Seriously, who is that guy?”  


Redtail shrugged as they finally approached the bunker, pulling out there trusty gun, Speedy, a souped up 10mm automatic pistol. “I dunno man, cant even get a good look at the guy. Quick sonofabitch. Dresses nice though.” They checked to make sure Speedy was loaded before motioning for their companions to stay behind them as they examine the bunker door.  


After quickly examining the lock they holstered Speedy before getting out their lock picking kit which was an old screw driver and some bobby pins. The lock was hard, but fortunately their were two things Redtail could do well, talk and pick locks. Everyone's chatter ceased for the moment, aware of the unspoken rule to not talk while Red was working. They snapped three of the pins before the door clicked open. Raul whistled as Red got back up and got ready to open the door. “Whoa boss, getting rusty.” Red mumbled a curse under their breath as they opened the door with a clunk.  


The first thing they all noticed was the huge gush of freezing air whooshing out to meet them. Despite their heavy armor Red gives a shiver. The yawning abyss of the bunker stared back at all of them. This would have unnerved Red back before their incident, but since then they've brushed off to many unsettling horrors to care about a simple bunker. They turn on the light of there pip boy and begin down the metal steps leading into the bowels of the bunker. The companions got into a single file line behind them to accommodate the small space. There seemed to be padding on the walls and the cold only seemed to get more biting as they descended.  


Veronica was right behind Redtail and muttered quietly to herself as they walked. “Reminds me of the time I crawled into the fridge during a game of hide and seek when I was six.”  


Raul felt the need to chime in from behind Veronica at this point. “Kid from my neighborhood did that once. Got locked in. Took the whole neighborhood hours to find him in someones open garage. He was okay when we found 'em. Never ate ice cream again after that though.” Veronica tapped her chin with her gauntlet. “Yeah, I've heard of that stuff. Never had it though.”  


Raul clutched his heart in mock horror. “Truly ice cream was the real casualty in the war.”  


Redtail gave a small snort as the motley crew finally reached an inner door. Red tried the handle before cursing under their breath again as it became apparent it was locked. Veronica huffed along with them. “Can't I just punch it open?”  


Raul chimed in from behind as Red got out their tools again. “Naw, I'm sure our great and powerful boss can handle it.” Red flipped off Raul over there shoulder as they knelt down and began to work. It clicked open within a few moments and Red attempted to open the door, but it didn't seem to budge.  


They pulled harder and harder until a voice from the back of the line piped up. “What's the hold up chief?” It was Cass.  


Red grabbed the handle of the door with both hands before bracing one of their legs on the wall and beginning to pull. “One sec...” They mumbled. They grumbled and grunted a few more times before they gave it all they had and the handle slipped out of there hand, leading the courier to fall backwards into Veronica. This would have normally toppled the girl over, but she was currently encased in sturdy mecha armor.  


“Whoa!” Veronica caught Red and shoved them back on there feet. They gave a thanks under their breath as they examined the door to see if they missed anything. They examined the outer edge of the door closely and found some odd clamps. After undoing them they heard something like a seal being released. Veronica once again piped into Red's inner monologue. “If their are cryogenically frozen bodies in their, I'm abandoning you.”  


Red finally got the door open and an even colder chill of air rushed out to great them. It was much colder then they had ever felt, including the frigid winter nights in the wasteland desert. Red let out a breath in shock and it turned into a cloud of mist in front of them. The inside of the room was pitch black. Red held up there pip boy to illuminate the darkness and it only pierced a few feet, just enough to illuminate a string hanging from the ceiling. The cowboy hatted wanderer reached out a reluctant gloved hand and pulled the string. It illuminated the room in a blinding flash of light. Everyone shielded there eyes before Red blinked a few times and made out shelves lining a medium sized white room. Everyone slowly filed into the room as they regained their eye sight.  


Raul was the first to recover with his glazed over eyes. He whistled slightly. “Speak of the devil...” Redtail was about to ask them what they were talking about before their sight returned well enough for them to look closer at what was lining the reams of shelves. Gallons and gallons of ice cream.  


Veronica was the next to react. Her eyes blown wide and she looked around in awe. “Oh my god...”  


The next to move was Boon as he went over and picked up a carton, scratching off the build up of ice to see the flavor. “Why? Why make a bunker for ice cream?”  


Cass rushed over to a carton of what looked to be strawberry. “Who cares? Ice cream! This stuff's the shit.” She started to pry the lid off of the carton, but the build up of ice was making it difficult. “Me and my mom used to make this stuff by hand when I was younger. I haven't had it in years.” She took out her combat knife and started to pry the lid off with the sharp edge.  


Gannon picked up a container and looked at the ingredients and date on it. “Are you suggesting your going to eat some of this slush? It looks to be over 200 years old, it cant possibly still be good.”  


Cass shrugged as she finally got the lid off and stabbed the ice cream with the knife. “Come on Doc, there's junk food from all the way back in 2077 scattered around the wasteland that's still good. Haven't you ever binged on sugar bombs?”  


Gannon grimaced and opened his own carton with some force and sniffed the contents suspiciously before replying. “I've seen you kill people with that knife Cassady.”  


The aforementioned caravaner stabbed a frozen chunk out of the strawberry treat and unceremoniously ate it off her knife. “I clend et.” She said through the food  


Gannon slammed his container back onto the shelf, making it rattle. “Wiping it off on your equally dirty shirt does not mean it's clean. Do you know what bacteria is? Or maybe you think ghosts make people sick?” The ice cream eater stuck her tongue out at the mocking and continued eating.  


Raul went over to a carton of chocolate and wiped off the label with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. “'Deep Freeze Deserts' Oh yeah, they were big in the ice cream business. This stuff was supposed to last indefinitely if you froze it cold enough. I think there tag line was 'Cold is Gold' or something like that.” By this point everyone but Gannon and Veronica had taken there own gallon of ice cream and had started to chow down with various levels of glee. Craig was eating a carton of rocky road with an actual spoon from his mess kit. Cass was halfway through her gallon already. Raul picked up the carton he was examining of chocolate and started eating it with a bent spoon from his pocket.  


Redtail had began to dig into their own carton of chocolate with their mess kit spoon when they were distracted by a small whimper from Veronica. She was looking at her gauntleted hands and then at the ice cream in sorrow. Red gestured at her with their spoon while chewing. “Wassa problmb?”  


Veronica shrugged slightly. “Well, like, I can't eat it with my armor on, but I'm pretty much only wearing my underclothes under it, so if I take it off I'll pretty much freeze.” Red nodded slightly before continuing to eat their ice cream in silence, never breaking eye contact as they shoveled more into there mouth. Veronica looked annoyed for a moment before continuing. “You gunna help me?”  


Red swallowed and shrugged. “H'okay.” They dug there spoon into their ice cream and held it in front of the brotherhood members mouth.  


Veronica grimaced slightly. “I want strawberry. And ew, you used that spoon.”  


Red continued to shove the spoon into her face until she was beginning to get ice cream on her face from her refusal to open her mouth. “Beggars cant be choosers Vic.” Veronica opened her mouth to give a no doubt scathing reply, but was interrupted by a spoon filled with chocolate being shoved into their gob so hard they almost choke.  


As the feeding continued it was interspersed with slowly dying squawks of disagreement from the ice creamless fighter. By the time Red stoped feeding them they had eaten about a fourth of the carton. Cass was just getting done with her gallon and was contemplating another. “Hey, what's the next flavor I should try?” She doesn't wait for an answer before disappearing behind the seemingly endless rows of shelves. “Mint, cookies n' cream, moose...moose flavor? I don't even wanna know. Coffee ripple, fudge ripple, cinnamon ripple...what does a ripple taste like?” Her banter want on for a while like that until: “Blue moon, Butter brickle, Garlic...whoa hey a door.”  


Everyone froze and looked to where Cass's voice was coming from. Raul closed his carton before responding. “Is that another ice cream flavor or...?” There was no answer and everyone slowly put down there cartons and moved towards the voice of Cass. They found her standing in front of an average door with a nameplate on it that read “Cryogenics”.  


Veronica was the first to speak. “I was joking about the zombies...” Red looked over at her and she still had some ice cream on her face. They make a little wiping motion and Vic promptly wiped the chocolaty mess onto her battle gauntlets. Their sure that the people they punch won't mind a chocolaty flavored demise.  


Redtail opened the door, which thankfully wasn't locked for once, and there appeared to be giant tubes leaning against the back wall. The courier suspected there might be securitrons inside. This was quickly proven wrong as they wiped the frost off one of the tubes to reveal the blue face of a scientist in cryogenic sleep. Redtail looked at the console beside one of the tubes and could could only vaguely understand what it was controlling and how it was working. Everyone spread out and tried to look for info on what a bunch of cryopods were doing in an ice cream storage bunker.  


Gannon rifled through some desks in the corner and came up with some papers. “Huh...It seems like with war on the horrison the government had an open contract for anyone that could come up with a means of keeping someone alive, frozen, for use in the vaults. I remember reading that the contract was picked up by some company decidedly not in the food industry. Seems like the scientists knew they were floundering and couldn't get money from there backers for testers, so they jumped in themselves to be auto-woken in a few days.” Gannon walked past all of the tubes, counting five in all in various states of prototype, the most polished looking one containing the scientist. “Doesn't seem like it worked. He is almost certainly very dead. Nicely preserved though.”  


Redtail tapped there knuckle on the glass and peered into the frozen chamber marveling at the seemingly snow white pristiness of the occupant. “Shouldn't we maybe make sure of that?”  
Gannon shrugged. “If you want to open it, be my guest. Frankly, I cant make heads or tails of these technical sketches, so unless you find a clearly labeled open button, I'm not sure what to do.”  


Boone gave a small scoff under his breath presumable at the thought that the great Arcade Gannon no knowing something. Veronica cracked her knuckles and also tapped on the class to gauge its strength. “You want me to break it open Red?”  


The courier grimaced for a minute at the thought of glass everywhere before tucking that to the back of there mind as a last resort. “Naw, maybe we should use a little more finesse with this.” They squinted at the console next to the tube while motioning for Raul to stand next to them. “Hey Raul you mechanic things, what do you make of this?”  


The ghoul responded with his usual brand of sarcasm while sauntering over to the panel. “Oh yeah Boss, I'm sure my stint as a radio repairman qualifies me for this.” Despite his misgivings he scrutinized the panel before bending down and opening it from the side using a screwdriver. The jumpsuited man hummed slightly. “Hey boss, mind shinning your benevolent light in here for a second.” Redtail bent down next to them and shined their pip-boy light inside the darkened box. Wires and a few tubes crisscrossed in ways they couldn't imagine. They whistled lowly while casting there eyes around in confusion. The ghoul next to them seemed less fazed by the mass of wires and reached his hands in to begin carding through them, making a mental inventory.  


Redtail leaned closer to both Raul and the open panel. “pst...hey uh, what are you doing? Exactly?”  


The mechanic grunted slightly as they thrust their arms farther into the seemingly never ending mass of wires. “Just doing a preliminary check to make sure everything's plugged in. More often then not, any problems you face are easy to fix things like that.” Red nodded slightly while wondering how this would help them figure out how to open the machine. Raul seemed to have read that mind as they continued talking while jiggling various wires and cables withing the machine to try and fine any loose ones. “The Doc said that the machine was supposed to auto-wake him up in a few days, but it obviously malfunctioned. If we can fix it, then the machine will wake him up on it's own. That's what I hope I can do anyway, if not then we might have to get creative with some gum and paperclips.” There was a small dip of silence as he worked before he ran his hands down a wire that was entirely unplugged. “Ah, wait is this...?” Everyone heard a small click and a whirring noise as Raul slotted the end of the cord back into its aligned port. “There we go!”  


A few lights that were previously unlit on the top of the panel began blinking sporadically and letting out a few beeps that sounded like warnings. Red stood up and looked at the small video screen set into the panel. “Uh...” They scratched their chin while analyzing the screen. “It says 'error...open...start...error...open...' yeah it seems to just keep repeating that. S'that good Raul?”  


The mechanic closed the panel and stood up with a small crack from his knees. “I don't know Boss, depends on if-” The ghoul's no doubt witty response was cut short by a sudden output of air from the tube as it seemed to be equalizing its air pressure. The cold air meeting the warm(er) air caused a large amount of mist to form in the room. There were several more mechanical clanks, but Redtail was unable to tell what was happening due to their vision being obstructed by the mist. An automatic ventilation system seemed to kick on, but due to the troubling sounds it was making it didn't appear to have been turned on in quite some time. The mist cleared and the tube seems to have slid open on some kind of railing leaving the frozen scientist open to the air for the first time in 200 years.  


Redtail sauntered up to the side of the tube while letting out another low whistle. “This sucker looks like a marble statue.”  


Gannon came up beside them and grabbed the man's arm to check his pulse before muttering under his breath. “Might be just as alive as one to...” Gannons eyes went wide as his arm turned ridged. “Oh my god...” They then sprung into action as they shuffled through there passenger bag frantically before pulling out a stimpak and a rebound. The doctor turned to Redtail and handed them the syringes. “Hold these.” They then turned their attention back to the scientist and got out a small knife that they then proceeded to cut open on of his pant legs with. He then reached out a hand in the general direction of Redtail. “Stimpak and Alcohol.”  


The courier handed them the stimpak while shuffling there feet slightly. “W-what? I don't have any...”  


Gannon snapped the fingers of his freehand to get them to stop talking, not taking his eyes off the 'patient'. “Left boot, left side, silver flask you looted from Primm.” Red opened their mouth before closing it promptly and reaching for their flask. The doctor took it and poured some on the leg before stabbing the stimpak into it and reaching out his hand for the rebound.  


The still dumbstruck courier handed them it without problem, but couldn't help but comment. “Uh...don't you try to keep people off that stuff?”  


The doctor injected the second needle while discarding the first and responding. “I need to get his heart rate up somehow and I'm working with what I have.”  


He answered quite fiercely, making the gun slinging wanderer back away slightly. “So...this guy's alive? I know that may seem like an obvious question, but you never actually said anything, you just kind of...went into doctor mode so...”  


Gannon checked his pulse again before rummaging in his bag again and pulling out a blanket, making no indication that he had heard anything. He laid the blanket over them before heading back to the desk he was looking at before. “This is a little beyond my depth. See if you guys can find anything about the defrosting process.” The companions all looked at each other before spreading out to look in various nooks and crannies before a sudden voice from Veronica called there attention to a shelf tucked in the corner quietly.  


She pointed at a few vials of blue liquid next to various other sundry items. “I think this might be important.” The doctor picked up the small vile and they examined the small bottle seeing it to be marked 'defrosting agent'.  


Gannon prepared some of it in an empty syringe before muttering to himself. “I have no idea how this will react with what I've already injected...” This was promptly fallowed by him injecting the scientist for a third time. The reaction was almost instantaneous. Within seconds the man in the tube began to twitch and convulse. “Ah shit.” Was all Gannon could be heard muttering as he attempted to access the situation. The convulsions seem to get worse before they crescendoed and the scientist let out a gasp as there eyes opened. They then proceed to push the doctor out of the way and attempt to propel themselves out of the tube, but only manage to collapse on the floor on all fours. They coughed violently while all the companions stood back in awe.  


After gasping for a few minutes they finally turn their head violently to Gannon. “You idiot! Did you listen to any of the procedures I told you? I told you 50 ccs, did you use the whole god damned bottle? I just...I don't...you're not...” Their rant slowed as did there breathing as an odd mix of confusion and frustration overcame their face as they whip their head around to face everyone else in the room. “Who...who are you people? Why are you in my lab?”  


No one answered for a few seconds before the doctor cleared his throat. “Look. I know this is all very confusing, but if you stay calm, it will make everything a lot easier.”  


They moved forward and attempted to help the scientist up, but the scared man skittered away from them on the floor before finally backing up against a less finished tube. “Nonono stay back, you almost killed me! How did you all get in here? This place is top secret. Are you spies? Where are my staff?”  


Those were a lot of questions that they all didn't have an answer to, so it was a few moments before Redtail stepped forward and attempted to answer. “In order of appearance: I picked the lock, no, and probably dead.”  


Gannon stepped toward the courier threateningly before hissing: “Redtail. You're. Not. Helping.”  


The courier just sighed before reaching into their bag and deciding they would have to take a more serious approach about this.  


They stepped towards the scientist who flinched slightly before they bent down and offered the man a Fancy Lad Snack. “Let's take this slow. My names Redtail. What's yours?”  


The scientist looked suspiciously between the smiling cowboy and the snack before hesitantly reaching out and taking it. “My name's Victor. Victor Cenx.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to drop me a line!  
> http://hawkscape.tumblr.com/  
> https://www.youtube.com/c/HawkScape  
> http://hawkscape.deviantart.com/


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